Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Nautical A platform at the top of a ship's foremast.
  • noun A forelock, especially of a horse.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Same as forelock.
  • noun The forehead.
  • noun A lock of hair, either natural or in a, wig, long enough to lie on the forehead, but sometimes erect or brushed up, worn by both ladies and gentlemen at various periods until the latter part of the eighteenth century. The word is still applied in Suffolk, England, to an erect tuft of hair.
  • noun Nautical, the platform erected at the head of the foremast.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The hair on the forepart of the head; esp., a tuft or lock of hair which hangs over the forehead, as of a horse.
  • noun That part of a headdress that is in front; the top of a periwig.
  • noun (Naut.) The platform at the head of the foremast.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun obsolete The top of the head; the top of the forehead.
  • noun obsolete The lock of hair which grows on top of the forehead; the corresponding part of a wig.
  • noun obsolete In the phrase, to take time (or occasion or opportunity) by the foretop, meaning "to boldly seize an opportunity".
  • noun obsolete A fop; one who sports a foretop.
  • noun An erect tuft of hair.
  • noun The forelock of a horse.
  • noun nautical A platform at the top of the foremast, supported by the trestle trees.
  • noun The front seat at the top of a vehicle.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a lock of a horse's mane that grows forward between the ears
  • noun a platform at the head of a foremast

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English, equivalent to fore- +‎ top.

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Examples

  • For Young, the climb to the foretop was the most dangerous and frightening part of the battle:

    Castles of Steel Massie, Robert K., 1929- 2003

  • "All ready for letting fall, sir," the middy stationed in the foretop was the first to sing out.

    Crown and Anchor Under the Pen'ant John B. [Illustrator] Greene

  • There being no mosquito bars attached to the berths in the forecastle, the foretop was the only place in which I could procure a few hours repose.

    Jack in the Forecastle or, Incidents in the Early Life of Hawser Martingale John Sherburne Sleeper

  • Now the foretop is a place high up in the rigging of the ship, a very giddy height indeed, and when a man is there he is really almost out of sight and it is impossible to see what he is doing from the deck.

    Susan A Story for Children Amy Walton 1873

  • “Catch his foretop and get on his neck till he balances out!”

    CHAPTER IX 2010

  • The woman obeyed, digging her toes into the evasive muscle-pads for the quick effort, and leaping upward, one hand twined in the wet mane, the other hand free and up-stretched, darting between the ears and clutching the foretop.

    CHAPTER IX 2010

  • A violent equinoctial gale had come up, which had first staved in a grating and a porthole on the larboard side, and damaged the foretop-gallant-shrouds; in consequence of these injuries, the Orion had run back to Toulon.

    Les Miserables 2008

  • “When we go aloft, you get into the foretop, and keep one of these going all the time, do you hear?”

    The Ghost Pirates 2007

  • I heard him and the Mate talking to the men, and presently, when we were going over the foretop, I made out that they were beginning to get into the rigging.

    The Ghost Pirates 2007

  • ‘Starboard,’ ‘Port,’ ‘Bowsprit,’ and similar indications of a mutinous undercurrent, though subdued, were audible, Bill Boozey, captain of the foretop, came out from the rest.

    A Holiday Romance 2007

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